Pistons turned down offer of Derrick Rose for Alex Caruso and draft compensation

The Detroit Pistons reportedly declined a deadline deal for Derrick Rose that would have sent the point guard to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Alex Caruso and “draft compensation,” according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

What “draft compensation” actually means is unclear. It likely doesn’t mean a first-round pick, and the Lakers don’t own a second-round pick until 2023. That means, for discussion’s sake, the deal would be a Caruso-for-Rose swap.

Would you want the Pistons to have made that deal?

I guess that depends on how much Caruso is an actual NBA player and how much he is just a folk hero with a receding hair line.

I haven’t watched enough of his game to know for sure, but our own Brady Fredericksen called him “Big Market Bruce Brown” in our Slack, which seems fair and a generous evaluation for Caruso.

The point guard seems to be a pretty tenacious defender but with a limited offensive game. He’s also already 26 (Brown is 23), so he is likely pretty close to his actual ceiling as a player. Caruso is averaging 5.5 points and 1.8 assists playing mostly off the ball in LA.

He’s always been a plus-player with the Lakers, and while that’s a pretty noisy stat it might point to his quality defense and general ability to move the ball and read the floor, despite having a limited role in LA.

Detroit’s asking price for Rose was pretty high as he was having a great season in his first year with the Pistons and is signed for a very reasonable deal next season. The Pistons were reportedly hoping to net a lottery pick and obviously didn’t get that so he is still in Detroit. He is now injured and it is unclear if he will play again this season.

So, if you could do it all over again, and assuming the Lakers offer was the best one on the table, would you do the deal or hold onto Rose?